Defender and Asteroids cabinet restorations!

[machupikachu12]

I decided to pull the trigger and jump headfirst into arcade restoration with a non-functional Defender and Asteroids cabinet. I've collected old videogames for a while, but these are my first arcade machines. The previous owner had let them sit for a while, so I'm hoping with a little attention I'll be able to get them back up and running. At first glance they appear to be in pretty decent shape, albeit inoperative.

Asteroids lights up and makes a terrible buzzing noise but nothing shows up on screen. I assume that the capacitor on the power unit is to blame here, so that's going to be my first target for repair. The only reason I assume this is the problem is just because it seems that none of the boards are getting power and I've also read in a few different places online that the "big blue" capacitor goes bad pretty often.

Defender I was hoping would be the easier of the two repairs. Somebody cut the power cable off the cabinet (whoops) so I went out and bought a replacement appliance power cable and installed it and cleaned up the inside of the cabinet a bit. At first glance, the internals seemed ok except for the fact that the 3 AA batteries that keep the RAM going have long since corroded away. It looks like the corrosion has spread through the board they're mounted on (ROM board?), so I'm a little bit more concerned with defender. I can see where the corrosion has spread to a few of the resistors and all in all I'm thinking I may have to replace the breadboard. There's still plenty of usable parts on it though, or so it seems. The diagnostic LEDs don't flash at all, the first 3 light up and remain lit. All of the power led's function appropriately and I can hear the CRT power up when I plug it in.

I've got a Qix cab as well, I just need to go pick it up. It was an inclusion in the deal, and it too doesn't work at the moment.

I appologize if this isn't the right part of the forums for this sort of post. I just figured that "general" would be the best place since it's a couple of cabs. Any help with these cabs is much appreciated! I'm sure there's a few people on this board with a wealth of knowledge on these pieces of gaming history!

[lilshawn]

quite honestly this is probably the worst thing to start with. You have a really big bite to chew on here. this can be a very VERY tedious repair. that you may have to farm out to a professional.

corrosion damage from batteries is a whole 'nother world of repair that even the best of us have had issues with completing. It's not something a newbie should tackle as their first project.

the only thing i can suggest at this time is get the board out... get the batteries out... label and remove any socketed chips...and wash the affected area with vinegar. This will neutralize the battery chemical. rinse with clean water and allow to dry thoroughly.

You will then have to repair any broken or corroded traces on the board with jumper wires and/or solder bridges.... and replace any damaged components eaten or corroded by the battery chemicals.

be warned, if you start messing with repairing the board, and decide to throw in the towel on it.... a professional may not even touch the board. They do not like messing with a board that someone else has had a play about with.

[paigeoliver]

Qix and Defender have repro boards available. I fix my own games all the time but still prefer the new repro boards if they are available.

You will need a multimeter and need to learn how to read voltages and continuity. It isn't unusual for vector games to actually have multiple things wrong with them when you finally go to repair them.

As far as the big blue goes, I have rebuilt about 50 Atari power supplies but only had to replace one big blue.

[machupikachu12]

quite honestly this is probably the worst thing to start with. You have a really big bite to chew on here. this can be a very VERY tedious repair. that you may have to farm out to a professional.

corrosion damage from batteries is a whole 'nother world of repair that even the best of us have had issues with completing. It's not something a newbie should tackle as their first project.

the only thing i can suggest at this time is get the board out... get the batteries out... label and remove any socketed chips...and wash the affected area with vinegar. This will neutralize the battery chemical. rinse with clean water and allow to dry thoroughly.

You will then have to repair any broken or corroded traces on the board with jumper wires and/or solder bridges.... and replace any damaged components eaten or corroded by the battery chemicals.

be warned, if you start messing with repairing the board, and decide to throw in the towel on it.... a professional may not even touch the board. They do not like messing with a board that someone else has had a play about with.

Yea, there's some pretty significant damage to the CPU board. I'll have to look into one of the repro boards. I've also found a repair service that will either fix your board or send you a new one and give you a credit for keeping your old one.

[paigeoliver]

Also, Asteroids is super common. You need to make a new friend, who lives locally, who is willing to let you bring your monitor and PCB over for troubleshooting. You can narrow your problems down in about 15 minutes if you can try your board and then your monitor in a known working machine.

[machupikachu12]

Also, Asteroids is super common. You need to make a new friend, who lives locally, who is willing to let you bring your monitor and PCB over for troubleshooting. You can narrow your problems down in about 15 minutes if you can try your board and then your monitor in a known working machine.

Anyone live in North Texas? lol

[paigeoliver]

Also, Asteroids is super common. You need to make a new friend, who lives locally, who is willing to let you bring your monitor and PCB over for troubleshooting. You can narrow your problems down in about 15 minutes if you can try your board and then your monitor in a known working machine.

Anyone live in North Texas? lol

Go on facebook and figure out what the "local" arcade group is for where you live, you should be able to find someone. Almost everyone with a dozen games in their basement has an Asteroids.